Harrow



A. C. EVANS.

HARROW.

Patented July 24,- 1888.

N. PLTERS. Pimiwlnmgnpm, wamngmn. D4 C NITED STATESA PATENT erica.

HARROW.

SPECIFICATIONiorming part of Letters Application filed May Patent No. 281,755, dated .my 24, 188s,

5,1883. (No model.)

invented certain new and useful Improvements in Harrows; and I do declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part of this specication.

My invention relates to improvements in harrows.

My invention relates to that classof harrows made in sections, flexibly connected together, and operated by a lever pivoted or iieXibly connected by its front end to the central section, and having chains or their equivalents connecting said lever with the outside sections, whereby the latter are operated in raising or lowering thesame.

My invention applies more particularly to a three-section harrow.

My invention relates, further, to a harrow having its sections iiexibly connected together and adapted to be foldedfor transportation, and it is an improvement on my former patent, dated November l, 1881, No. 248,850.

My invention consists in certain improvements in the connections of the lever used for manipulating the barrow-sections, and in the means for securing the same when not in use;

also, in the construction and arrangement of the sections; also, in the location of the runners also, in the flexible connections between the sections which allow the sections to be folded more compactly together.

4o The object of my invention is to simplify the lever-connections so as to handle the harrow with greater ease, and also to equalize the Weight of the harrow and to permit it to be folded so as to bring the runners nearer together, to accomplish which the runners are bolted vertically in reversed position upon the top of the wing or folding sections to allow said runners to assume their proper position when the outside sections are folded down 5o underthe middle section, and to allow the beams of said outside sections to alternate with those ofthe middle section, so as to lie in the same horizontal plane when folded.

Figure l is a perspective view of a harrow of th ree sections with my improvements thereon. Fig. 2 represents the same harrow folded for transportation. Fig. 3 is a detail view of the front connection of the lever with the central harrow-seetion. Fig. 4 is an end view of the same. Fig. 5 is a top view of the linkcoupling (or double hinge-joint) which connects the barrow-sections. Fig. 6 is a section of same through line x, Fig. 5.

A is the harrow, having a middle section, a, constructed with ve longitudinal beams, and a wing-section, a', on either side, flexibly attached to the former with three beams each. A link, b, pivoted at either end to the bent ends of strap-irons c, connects the sections.

It will be noticed that the iron bars or straps c on the ends of the middle section, a., project upon either side almost the entire distance between the outside beam of this section and that of the wing-section, so as to bring the linkcoupling b close up to the beam j of said outside section. This is done to adapt the sections a to fold so that their beams shall alternate with those of section a, as seen in Fig. 2. By thus making the joint next to the inside beam of the wing-section the latter can be folded down with its beams in line with those in. section a, and the outside beams will .not reach to the middle line of section a, but will leave its center beam, j, clear ofthe wing-sections. This allows the harrow to be transported with more ease and without danger of unfolding.

The runners are of the usual bent form7 and are attached in reverse position over and in line with the middle beam of each wing-section, and when the latter are folded under the middle section these runners are about the proper distance apart to support the harrow. By reference to Fig. 2 it will be noticed that when the harrow is folded the beams of the wing-sections fold in between the beams ofthe middle section, so as to bring all the beams of the harrow into the same plane and in line with eac-h other.

A lever, e, similar to that shown and described in my former patent, (before mentioned,) extends from front to rear over the central longitudinal line of the harrow. Its front IOO Y folded.

t serves end is connected b y a clevis-coupling through .y Block j" is of cast metal, in form something like the rear half of an anvil. It sets upon the top of the beam, and has flanges fr, extending downward from it, upon either side ofthe latter, to prevent lateral displacement, and is held to the beam by a hook-bolt, t", which extends down through it and the beam, and is fastened by a nut. rIhe hook end of this bolt extends down into a shallow hole or seat, s, in the rearwaid extension, t', of the block f, in line with its stem, and the other half of the clevisn c connects with it horizontally, so as to allow a free horizontal movement of lever c, to which the loop-plate e is fastened. The hook-bolt t" presents the form of a vertical staple, with its two limbs in line with the central beam, j". At the rear, lever c is held by a simple plain downwardly-turned hook, 7L, which extends from the rear of the harrow-beam j. Its lower part is threaded, and a nut, on top of the strap c, and nut t under the beam, fasten it securelyin its place. It extends up through a fiat arched bar, g, which latter supports the rear end of the lever c, as seen in Figs. l. and 2. The bar g is bent in the form of a flat arch, and its top is high enough above the beams to bring the handle end of lever c within easy reach of the operator.

The lever is kept in its place by the chains a on either side, which extend from the hooks o on the lever to the hooks c on the outside beams of the harrow, these chains being kept stretched tightly except when the harrow is The hook h at the top of the bolt h allows, the lever to slip under, so as to engage with it, to enable the operator to raise the rear end ofthe harrow. rIhis device is much more simple and is more cheaply made than the fork and hook in my former patent before referred to, besides allowing the operator to use the lever in elevating either side section of the harrow without the necessityV of raising it out of a fork (shown in former patent) before giving it the necessary side motion for that purpose. The connection or coupling at the front end of lever e is also simplified, and allows greater freedom of movement to the lever than the guideway77 seen in the former patent before referred to. To release the lever a longitudinal or end thrust was necessary, which in this construction is entirely obviated. The link b, which hinges the harrow-sections together, is cast with a pair of ears, b', on each end, and the curled ends of the strap-irons c are pivoted between these ears by a bolt, c, as seen in the detail views, Figs. 5 and 6. The distance between the two pivot-bolts c of the hinge is equal to the thickness of the beams, allowing sections c to fold fiat upon the under side of section a, the beams in one section, lying upon the strapirons in the other7 as the beams in the wing-sections alternate with those in the central section.

I claim as my inventionl. A folding harrow in which the beams of the folding sections alternate with the beams ofthe section upon which they are folded, lying between the beams of the latter upon their connecting strap-irons, whereby all. the beams of the harrow are brought into the same plane and in line with each other by the operation of folding the sections.

2. The combination, with the beam j, of section a and lever e, having the horizontallybent loop e extending therefrom, of the bloekf, having fianges r for securing it from lateral movement on the beam, and hook-bolt 17, ex tending vertically through said block and beam, securing the same together, and having its short limb extending through loop e into seat s in the top of said block, and its two limbs in the central longitudinal line of the harrow, as set forth.

3. In a folding harrow having a lever piv oted over the center of its middle section and connected by chains with the wing-sections, the combination, with said lever and the central beam of the middle section, of a flanged block intermediate between them, an d a detachable hook-bolt extending vertically through said block and beam, securing themtogether, and connected with the loop end of said lever, as set forth.

4:. In a folding harrow having a lever pivoted over the middle section, connected by chains with the wing-sections, and adapted to be operated toward either side by a horizontal movement in elevating said wing-sections, the combination, with the middle section, the pivoted lever, and its connections, of the flat arched bar for supporting the rear end ofthe latter and allowing freedom of its movement, having the hook extending above the same, and adapted to engage with said lever in raising the rear end ofthe harrow, as set forth.

5. The combination, with harrow-sections a and a', having the connecting strap-irons c, of the links b, of like length with the thickness IOO IIO

of the,harrow-beams, to adapt the latter to all Y lie in the same horizontal plane when the sections are folded together, as shown and specified.

(i. In a harrow having its sections flexibly connected together by a link coupling of equal length with the thickness of the harrow-beams, the arrangement of the latter in the central and wing sections, whereby they may alternate when folded and all lie in the same horizontal plane.

7. In a harrow having its sections flexibly connected and adapted to be folded together, a single reversed runner located vertically upon the top of each wing-section to allow it to assume the proper upright position for supporting the harrow when the sections are folded for transportation, as specified.

8'. The combination, with the wing-sections,

IZO

ofthe vertical (reversed) runners locatedthere b, of the Wing-sections a, having` the vertical 1o on, whereby said runners are adapted to sup- (reversed) runners d thereon, as and for the port the entire harroW When said sections are purpose hereinbefore set forth.

folded under the middle section into the saine In testimony whereof I affix my signature in or in parallel planes. presence of two witnesses.

9. In a harrow havingits sections flexibly AUSTIN C. EVANS. connected together| and adapted to be folded Vitnesses: as described, the combination, with the cenl B. C. CONVERSE, trai section, n, having the Hexible connections I G. M. GRIDLEY. 

